Rambis, Hornacek, Jackson, Gattison, Corbin, VDN

[Shzm13]

All emerging as candidates..

After spending his morning, afternoon and evening with a phone attached to his ear, Suns General Manager Steve Kerr's initial foray toward finding a new head coach made it clear that finding interested candidates won't be a problem.
"It's a pretty coveted job, obviously," Kerr said Monday. "Everybody in basketball would like to have this job, I'm pretty sure."
Kerr will spend most of the week laying the foundation of his search and will have some informal conversations with candidates before he and David Griffin, vice president of basketball operations, form a short list to formally interview.


With no competition in the market except Chicago, there is no timetable or hurry. The process of making a pick might take weeks, but Kerr expects to hone in on four or five candidates soon.
"I don't think it'll be that hard to pare down the list pretty quickly," Kerr said. "I could go with a younger guy and a very experienced staff or the opposite - a guy with a lot of coaching experience who could mentor a younger guy or a younger staff."
Suns Managing Partner Robert Sarver told KTAR-AM that it was "safe to say" nobody in the organization would become the new coach. That would rule out speculated names such as Assistant General Manager Vinny Del Negro and interested broadcast analysts such as Eddie Johnson and Tom Chambers. But Kerr said Del Negro would be considered.
For a veteran team that Suns brass feels can a win a title next year, anyone without coaching experience might have a hard time making the cut.
Other than Del Negro, the only names Kerr acknowledged he would talk to were ABC analyst Mark Jackson, who has not coached, and part-time Utah coach Jeff Hornacek, a former Sun who lives in Paradise Valley.
Hornacek planned to join the Suns at midseason in 2004-05 as a consultant but never did once the team started rolling and he felt the staff seemed well-situated. He is a special assistant to the Jazz as a shooting coach and worked extensively this season with Andrei Kirilenko. Suns head athletic trainer Aaron Nelson is Hornacek's brother-in-law.
"If Steve calls, well, I'll talk to him," Hornacek told the Deseret News of Salt Lake City. "He asked me my interest last year in coaching and stuff like that, so who knows?"
No current head coaches will be in the mix. Financial issues should not be a factor either ("We're not interviewing Phil Jackson," Kerr joked).
"Someone who's been around a championship-caliber team makes some sense in terms of having seen great teams work, whether it's coaching with them or playing for them," Kerr said.
Without mentioning names, Kerr said there are some former Suns working as assistants on playoff teams whom he would consider. Besides Hornacek, that crop might include Lakers assistant Kurt Rambis, New Orleans assistant Kenny Gattison and another Jazz assistant, Tyrone Corbin, who also is expected to be interviewed by Chicago.

 

[Andrew]

Rambis or Hornacek please.

 

[Bufalay]

doesn't matter

 

[Ronin]

I would like to see Mark Jackson named the Phoenix Suns head coach.

 

[phxrising]

Shaq as player/coach please.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Im eerily tempted by mark jackson. If he is respected by our squad I could see a nice match there.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

doesn't matter

He's obviously someone who no one anywhere pegged as an option, but I must admit that I am quite intrigued....

 

[mojorizen7]

Whats the difference between Mark Jackson and Eddie Johnson?
From a potential coaching candidate perspective.

 

[Divide Et Impera]

I don't know. The only thing I can think of is that Jackson spent all his career with a good big man (Ewing and Smits) and was an excellent PG who could work the post like no other. His b-ball IQ is through the roof and he understands defense. I am a HUGE EJ fan as well, but Jackson might be a bit more intriguing to me....

As I said in another post, no matter who is coach, I want EJ on the coaching staff somehow or another....

 

[jagu]

Steve Urkel for coach

You must be registered for see images

 

[Cheesewater]

I would like to see Mark Jackson named the Phoenix Suns head coach.

So would Tommy Chambers...

http://www.youtube.com/v/UDyBSTQDwH8&hl=en&rel=0

 

[Ronin]

^^
I forgot about that dunk.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Jackson/Horny don't have any coaching experience, right?

 

[boisesuns]

Mark jackson has said some pretty good things about what the Suns need to work on during his time as an announcer. Will that translate into a good coach? I'm not sure.

 

[nashman]

NO to Mark Jackson, if we are going to go with a no experienced HC they should go with EJ or a Suns guy, what makes anyone think MJ would be any better than EJ?????

 

[nowagimp]

Barring the suns being able to snag byron scott, mark jackson sounds the best to me. If you're going to train a young PG(DJ), he's the guy, one of the greatest pick and roll guys ever, and he did it with smarts not athleticism. He also understands the value of using your PG to control the pace of the game, and how to hide a mediocre defensive PG on a good team(this he was). He is also a steve Nash fan, I think he will be a nash supporter and maybe get nash the rest he needs during the season.

 

[nashman]

Disagree nowagimp, haven't ever even heard something come out of Jacksons mouth that made me think wow he might make a good coach someday. Not sure the players would respect him, EJ deals with these guys already and they already respect him. Not sure why everyone thinks coaches have to be former PG's, how many former PG's have coached championship teams? Just curious.

 

[jandaman]

This reminds me of that game where Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy had a disagreement.

Mark Jackson: "Iverson is the greatest pound for pound player in the game"
Van Gundy: "What does that even mean?"


Mark Jackson has very strong opinions on players thats for one, he is smart and was a very good point guard back in the days. But I'm sceptical...

Seeing Byron Scott's success with the Nets and now with the Hornets....
Its easy to fall for that notion that pgs make good coaches....

 

[nowagimp]

Disagree nowagimp, haven't ever even heard something come out of Jacksons mouth that made me think wow he might make a good coach someday. Not sure the players would respect him, EJ deals with these guys already and they already respect him. Not sure why everyone thinks coaches have to be former PG's, how many former PG's have coached championship teams? Just curious.

The suns players are buddies with EJ, not a good situation for guys like amare that may need to be sat down for playing poor defense. PG's are like quarterbacks, they understand the big picture of the offense, especially if you have a dominant PG. If the suns didnt have nash, jackson might not be the best choice. Problem is if you bring in a guy that constrains Nash(Silas?), the suns have no chance at all to win a title. If nash isnt very productive next year the window is shut tight.

 

[Cheesewater]

The suns players are buddies with EJ, not a good situation for guys like amare that may need to be sat down for playing poor defense. PG's are like quarterbacks, they understand the big picture of the offense, especially if you have a dominant PG. If the suns didnt have nash, jackson might not be the best choice. Problem is if you bring in a guy that constrains Nash(Silas?), the suns have no chance at all to win a title. If nash isnt very productive next year the window is shut tight.

I agree here. I don't know what their coaching style would be, but EJ seems too passive compared to Mark Jackson. Between the two, I'd rather Jackson at HC. Not that I would mind EJ as an assistant.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Exactly cheesewater. EJ is much too laid back/passive to establish authority with the players. I think he is more of a mechanics/assistant type coach.

 

[elindholm]

I don't like Mark Jackson. He's far too full of himself for what he accomplished as a player. Yeah, he's second on the all-time list for assists, whatever. He was a very good player who thinks he's a hall-of-famer. I can't see that going over well with O'Neal or Stoudemire.

At least Eddie Johnson is realistic about how good a player he was.

 

[az1965]

NO to Mark Jackson, if we are going to go with a no experienced HC they should go with EJ or a Suns guy, what makes anyone think MJ would be any better than EJ?????

I agree. MJ doesn't excite me at all. I'd rather go with EJ.

 

[YouJustGotSUNSD]

Do you see EJ as a motivator? I don't.

 

[Bigdez22]

If it is going to be an ex player with no coaching exp, I would hope it would be someone with suns ties

And chambers dunk over jackson does not count(I never get tired of watching that)